


Once Upon a Dream

by BonestheGeek



Series: More than What it Seems [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5135498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonestheGeek/pseuds/BonestheGeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry doesn't remember his best friend, but he remembers a fabricated life. Grace remembers everything except the missing year. Somehow they find each other. "Do you believe in magic, Henry?" AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon a Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or anything you recognize. If I did, Paige would be a MUCH bigger character.

This town is boring as shit. 

Henry’s lived in big towns for pretty much as long as he can remember. He lived in Talahassee until he was two, but then his Mom moved him to Boston, and they lived there until the fire. She had been a flight risk, she told him once, moving from town to town in a matter of months, but she’d wanted to give him some stability. 

In any case, Henry had never considered himself a small town guy. He soaks up the culture and opportunities in a big town like the air he breaths. Sure, it’s got a bit more crime and dirt and traffic, but that’s not too bad if you know how to deal with it, and Henry knows how to deal with it. 

What he doesn’t know how to do is breathe air without smog, or occupy himself when his Gameboy is dead and the library's closed and there’s nothing to do in this town his Mom’s found herself stuck in. 

He wanders around town somewhat aimlessly. Then he spots a building.....stables, maybe?.....off to the side, and figures....well, if he’s in a town small enough to have freaking stables in the middle of it, maybe they wouldn’t mind him taking a peak? He’s never seen a horse before after all, and he just wants to look....

The stables stink of horse crap and some musky smell he doesn’t quite recognize. Around him is wood, straw, and the huge hulking bodies of muscular animals. He gets too close to a stall and one, a tall and noble white steed, sniffs his hair and snorts. 

Henry freezes. His hair stands on end. Is this some kind of sign of aggression in the horse kingdom? 

He hears a tinkling laugh from his side. “You know, that means Savior likes you. And wants a carrot. She’s kind of a bottomless pit.” 

He slowly turns to his left to spot one of the most beautiful girls he’s ever seen-- his age, with silky blonde hair and warm brown eyes. She seems to startle as her eyes meet his, but after a hesitant moment, she walks forward with a carrot in her palm. After a second, he takes it and feeds it to the hulking monster, who takes it straight out of his hand, soft lips brushing his fingers. He sighs in relief and takes a couple of steps the other way. 

“She’s yours?” He manages to ask. 

She gets a sad look on her face as she walks over to pet the horse's nose. “No, I’m just taking care of her for a friend.” 

He bites his lip before he asks the next question. She looks so deflated, as if she's just remembered some crushing blow. “Are they....” 

“Dead?” She asks. It’s then, when she turns to him again, that he catches the look in her eye. He’s seen it elsewhere, with his Mom or some of the kids at school who are in with the wrong crowd. Like she’s been through a war and seen far too much death in her life. He wonders how the hell she got it in a sleepy town like Storybrooke. “No, he’s just.....gone. It’s complicated.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

She shrugs. “It happens.”

They stand there for several seconds, a silent memorial, before he remembers his manners. He holds out his hand. “Henry Swan.” 

She smiles softly, the same look in her eye, and takes his hand. It’s like an electric jolt, but he doesn’t flinch. “Paige....” Her eyebrows furrow. “Grace?” 

He smiles teasingly. “Have to think about it?” 

She laughs again in that soprano tone, one of the clearest sounds he’s ever heard. “Sort of....My life delights in being confusing.” She pauses. “I have two families. It’s complicated, but one named me Paige and the other named me Grace. Making things more confusing is that my legal last name actually is Grace, and both families call me what they please. Sometimes I’m not sure which one to actually use.” 

She did say it was complicated. “Which one do you prefer?”

She shrugs shyly. “Whichever one you like.”

He smirks. “Well, Paige Grace,” He actually gets her to smile at that. She’s adorable when she smiles. Then he glances at his watch. “I actually have to get back to where we’re staying, or my mom’s gonna flip.” He lifts his hands in a what can you do gesture, surprised to find out that he’s actually really disappointed he can’t stay longer. She’s cute. “Err....see you around? Are you usually here?” 

She nods. “At least twice a day, but I doubt you’d want to be around here the first time. It’s usually around five a.m.” She coughs. “Um, I come here after school. Three to five on the weekdays, but most weekends I spend all afternoon here.” She smirked. “Someone has to care for Bottomless Pit over there.” 

The horse almost seems to look highly offended. If Henry didn’t know better. Which he does. 

Savior neighs. 

Grace rolls her eyes. “Oh hush, you.” then she looks back at Henry shyly. “Um, I could give you my number? If you want?” 

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that yeah, Henry really wants that number. Because they’ve had a two-minute conversation and Henry is already charmed. He knows her name and that’s about it. Down boy. His mother is going to assault him when he got home. She’s not a closet romantic, not remotely, but frankly has been freaking out about the moment that Henry starts wanting a relationship. He’s been on a few dates, nothing serious, but those girls always seemed to be...just not right. 

Grace (or Paige, or Paige-Grace) takes a piece of paper out of a pad in her purse and writes down a number in slightly messy handwriting, handing it to him with a blush. “It’s my cell phone.” She says. “I pretty much always have it on me. Papa worries.” 

He glances at it with a grin, noticing the little flags on her 7s and the fact that she doesn’t write her 8s with one fluid line. He whips out his phone and punches in the number, then gestures to her. “I can put mine in yours.” 

She nods, a small motion, then pulls out her own phone. It’s not a smartphone like Henry's; it’s a flip phone, a dinosaur flip phone at that. She hands it to him. 

Seeing his look as he enters the number, she grins sheepishly. “I’m infamous for screwing with tech. Now I’m only allowed use a cell phone that Regina Mills-- erm, the mayor-- has idiot-proofed. She’s good with tech.” 

It’s weird, but he thinks he sees lies. Minor ones, but lies. Still, something tells him she’s trustworthy, and his “superpower” isn’t as good as his Mom’s, so he hands it back. “Tech-incapable?” 

She rolls her eyes. “No, I just seem to be cursed.” She shrugs. “Anyway, I’ll see you around?” 

Henry nods. “Uh, yeah.” He puts his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants and waves, slowly turning to exit. “See you around.” 

He isn’t looking, so he doesn’t see the way her face completely drops when he leaves, the way her limbs start to shake with repressed movement. If he had, he might have stayed, seen her turn to the horse and hear her whisper, “Great Eelia, that was harder than I thought.”


End file.
